Last week, I wrote about beginning to create a capsule wardrobe. I have been feeling very uninspired by my wardrobe lately, mainly because it was stuffed with clothes I didn’t love and rarely wore. So, to begin creating a wardrobe I love and a style that makes me feel good, I had to go through a major purge of what was hanging in my closet presently.

First of all, let me tell you how much I love to declutter. I go through a major spree in different areas of my home at least a few times a year. (This year, my mom and I have already gone through our linen closets and did a major purge of our kitchen, probably getting rid of 40% of what we were “hoarding.”) I had recently done a purge of my winter wardrobe when I put away my winter clothes, sending along a huge bag to ThredUp, which is hands-down the easiest way to get rid of clothes you no longer love (but are still wearable) and earning a few bucks in the process. (I highly recommend them! It’s totally free!)

Anyway, a few weekends ago, I did a huge purge. I’m not kidding when I say I took everything out of my closet and dresser. This is what my room looked like:

Clothes on the bed, clothes all over the floor, dresses and skirts hanging up on hooks… eek! It was crazy!

Once it was all out in the open, I began going through each different pile and deciding whether to keep or give away the items. If it didn’t fit me, it was given away. If I knew it was something I hadn’t worn in the past six months, given away. If it made me feel frumpy or crappy the last time I wore it, given away. Before long, I had a huuuuge pile of clothes to give away. I ended up giving away:

• Dresses – 2
• Skirts – 1
• Dressy shirts (for work) – 7
• Casual shirts – 12
• Cardigans – 6
• Sandals – 1
• High heels – 1
• Skinny jeans – 1
• Capris/shorts – 3

Total number of items taken out of my wardrobe? 34! (Plus, I removed another 14 items of workout clothes, loungewear, swimwear, etc.) My closet feels so much lighter now! And my dresser drawers feel so much more organized. (They had started to stress me out because they were so disorganized and messy!)

Here’s what I was left with as it relates to my capsule wardrobe:

• Skinny jeans – 1
• Capris/shorts – 3
• Dressy slacks (for work) – 3
• Casual shirts – 9
• Dressy shirts (for work) – 17
• Cardigans – 4
• Dresses – 2
• Skirts – 1
• Flats – 3
• Sandals – 1
• TOMs – 1

This leaves me with a 45-piece summer capsule right now, and some working uniforms. Obviously, I still have some work to do. I am not 100% satisfied with my wardrobe as it stands right now, and I know I kept a few items that I should get rid of. Plus, I’m going to need to remove some items to make room for new clothes that more accurately fit my style and fall in line with my ideal summer capsule like the quality denim jeans available at EDWIN. For example, I have a pair of black dressy slacks I wear to work that I’d like to replace with a better-fitting pair of dressy capris. Things like that.

I think my biggest worry with creating a more minimalist wardrobe is the fact I no longer work in a casual dress office environment. When I attempted Project 333 last summer, I was working in a much more casual office environment (I could literally get away with wearing yoga pants to work!), so I didn’t really have a ton of dressy work clothes. Over the past year, I’ve been building my business casual work wardrobe. The last time, I could basically overlap my weekend wear with my work wear. That won’t be possible this time around, so we’ll see how it goes!

Anyway, steps one and two of creating a summer capsule have been done. I’ve reduced my wardrobe by almost half and I have created my ideal summer capsule wardrobe. What’s left is to further reduce what is sitting in my closet, and begin to build my capsule by buying clothes that fit me better and make me feel great from Fear of God Essentials. As I’ve mentioned, it’s going to be a work in progress but I’m excited to get started!

Next week, I’ll finish up this little series by talking more about my style and the sorts of clothes I’d like to have in my closet. It’ll be a wishlist of sorts, so that should be fun!

When was the last time you did a big purge of your clothes?

I’ll be completely honest: I’m not very fashionable. I think one of the main reasons why I don’t get too into fashion is due to being overweight. It’s not very fun to shop for clothes when you want to run out of every dressing room screaming once you see yourself in a three-way mirror.

I recognize that it’s very possible to be fashionable and look good even when you’re overweight. I see so many women my size who manage to make their size work for them, not against them. I’ve been putting off really honing in on my style and creating a wardrobe I love because I wanted to lose weight first. When I am at my perfect weight, then I can get my life started. This is how I approach many things in life: everything is going to fall into place and my life will be super perfect when I am finally at my happy weight.

The truth is even though I want to get to that happy weight and I am working towards that, there’s no reason to put off building a wardrobe I love. I’ve been putting this off for years because I wanted to lose weight first. But I still deserve to feel good and wear clothes that make me feel good, even at the size I am now. I need to stop thinking the girl I am now doesn’t deserve good things in life. She does. She deserves the effort, she deserves the time, she deserves to feel good even at an unhappy weight.

So that’s what I’m doing. I am going to work on putting together a capsule wardrobe. It’s going to take me a while, but I am really excited to take this on and find a style that makes me feel good. Because we all deserve to like our appearance and feel good about ourselves.

So, let’s talk capsule wardrobes! Basically, a capsule wardrobe is a small collection of essential clothing and accessories to use during a season. You want to choose classic pieces that won’t go out of style and can be mixed and matched in different ways and add a few seasonal pieces to the mix with each different capsule. Things that don’t count in a capsule include workout clothes, loungewear, pajamas, undergarments, and sentimental jewelry (such as a wedding ring).

For me, since I live in Florida and we don’t experience actual seasons, I’m only planning on creating a summer capsule and a winter capsule. It’s only August and we still have a good four months of hot weather ahead of us, so I’m going to work on building my summer capsule now.

It’s up to you how many pieces you want in your capsule wardrobe, but you do want to keep it minimal. For me, I am considering the below 35-piece wardrobe:

• • Skinny jeans – 1 pair
  • Dressy slacks (for work) – 2 pairs
  • Dressy capris (for work) – 1 pair
  • Capris – 2 pairs
  • Dresses – 2
  • Skirts – 2
  • Dressy shirts (for work) – 12
  • Cardigans (for work) – 4
  • Flats – 2
  • Sandals – 1
  • Tees (casual) – 6

One thing I should note is that I didn’t include accessories with my capsule wardrobe. I don’t wear jewelry and I consider my sunglasses more a necessity than an accessory. (They’re as essential to me as my eyeglasses.) It’s up to you if you want to count jewelry in with your capsule, but I don’t think it matters that much.

So this is where I am at right now. I did a big closet purge this weekend and even though I just sent off a huge bag of clothes to ThredUp in May, I have enough clothes and shoes to fill up another bag! That seems so crazy to me! I’ll talk more about my closet purge next week, and where I stand with my current wardrobe.

I know I’ll have some shopping to do to get my summer capsule wardrobe set into place, and it’s something that will be a work in progress for a while. (Since I’m also trying to live more frugally and pay off some debts, which takes priority.) But I’m excited to have a plan and to begin curating a wardrobe that makes me feel good.

Have you ever created a capsule wardrobe? Do you consider yourself fashionable?